English lecturer Judith Horne has co-written a book that is literally at a Higher Level.
The part-time lecturer at Forth Valley College – and full-time with the Open University – has co-written a book to help students pass the Higher English exam called: Higher English Practice Questions and Exam Papers.
Published by Hodder Gibson and endorsed by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) the book is already helping her English Higher students – who Judith teaches during a morning class at FVC’s Falkirk Campus and an evening class at the Stirling Campus on a Tuesday – to improve their class work in preparation for the examination in May.
Judith, from Stirling, who has two degrees in English Studies and two in Psychology, and has been teaching Higher English since 1997, said: “I am very proud of it as it is the first ever book I have had published and a lot of work has gone into it. It has certainly given me the thirst to do more, and I have always wanted to complete a novel.
“I was asked to write the book during the exam diet of 2019 and I had to use all my experience and knowledge on the subject to pull everything together in a short space of time.
“I mainly teach returners to education who need to get their Higher English to progress in their chosen career and it is a really worthwhile and rewarding job helping them to do this. Hopefully the book can help even more across the country to achieve their Higher English. I enjoy my job at Forth Valley College and I am just delighted to have written something that students not only here, but across the whole of Scotland, can refer to in class and learn from.
“The feedback I have already had from my own students who are using it is that they feel it is a good thing to have a book to refer to in class in this internet obsessed world, rather than notes or online files.”
News of Judith’s first book has further enhanced the three Higher English classes run at Forth Valley College which last year delivered a total of 17 A results – the highest number of top grades ever recorded through the college for this course.
Judith and fellow lecturers Emma MacNair and Rob McDermott are rightly proud of the 2018/19 Higher English learners who also notched up a further 26 passes (12 Bs and 14 Cs) from the classes.
Fi Milligan Rennie, Curriculum Manager in the Department of Creative Industries, said: “Judith has always gone the extra mile for our Higher English students and I delighted a wider audience can now take advantage of her skills and expertise with this excellent resource.”
For more information e-mail eveninginfo@forthvalley.ac.uk or call 01324 403123 and to view all courses available on the FVC website visit https://www.forthvalley.ac.uk/ways-to-study/evening/
